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Home My WebLink About2001-0936.Moore.05-12-15 Decision Crown Employees Commission de Nj Grievance Settlement reglement des griefs Board des employes de la Couronne ~ Suite 600 Bureau 600 Ontario 180 Dundas Sl. West 180 rue Dundas Ouest Toronto Ontario M5G 1Z8 Toronto (Ontario) M5G 1Z8 Tel. (416) 326-1388 Tel. (416) 326-1388 Fax (416) 326-1396 Telec. (416) 326-1396 GSB# 2001-0936 2002-1075 UNION# 01C609 02C863 02C865 02C870 02C873 02C871 02C869 02C866 IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION Under THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT Before THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD BETWEEN Ontano PublIc ServIce Employees Umon (Moore) Union - and - The Crown In RIght of Ontano (Mimstry ofCommumty Safety and CorrectIOnal ServIces) Employer BEFORE FelIcIty D Bnggs Vice-Chair FOR THE UNION Scott Andrews Gnevance Officer Ontano PublIc ServIce Employees Umon FOR THE EMPLOYER Lucy Neal Semor Staff RelatIOns Officer Mimstry Commumty Safety and CorrectIOnal ServIces HEARING October 27 2005 2 DeCISIon In September of 1996 the MmIstry of CorrectIOnal ServIces notIfied the Umon and employees at a number of provmcIaI correctIOnal mstItutIOns that theIr facIlItIes would be closed and/or restructured over the next few years On June 6, 2000 and June 29, 2000 the Umon filed pohcy and mdIvIdual gnevances that alleged vanous breaches of the collectIve agreement mcludmg artIcle 6 and artIcle 31 15 as well as gnevances relatmg to the filhng of correctIOnal officer posItIOns In response to these gnevances the partIes entered mto dIscussIOns and ultImately agreed upon two Memoranda of Settlement concernmg the apphcatIOn of the collectIve agreement dunng the "first phase of the MmIstry's transItIOn" One memorandum, dated May 3, 2000 (heremafter referred to as "MERC I" (MmIstry Employment RelatIOns CommIttee)) outhned condItIons for the correctIOnal officers wIllIe the second, dated July 19,2001 (heremafter referred to as "MERC 2") provIded for the non-correctIOnal officer staff Both agreements were subject to ratIficatIOn by respectIve prmcIples and settled all of the gnevances IdentIfied m the related MERC appendIces, filed up to that pomt m tune The partIes contmued to negotIate and agree upon further condItIons regardmg the transItIOn matters MERC 3 was sIgned by the partIes on February 25, 2002 WhIle It was agreed m each case that the settlements were "wIthout prejUdICe or precedent to posItIOns eIther the umon or the employer may take on the same Issues m future dIscussIOns", the partIes recogmzed that dIsputes mIght anse regardmg the unplementatIOn of the memoranda. Accordmgly, they agreed, at Part G, paragraph 8 3 The partIes agree that they wIll request that FehcIty Bnggs, VIce Chair of the Gnevance Settlement Board wIll be seIzed wIth resolvmg any dIsputes that anse from the llnplementatIOn of tlllS agreement It IS tlllS agreement that provIdes me wIth the JunsdIctIOn to resolve the outstandmg matters Both MERC 1 and MERC 2 are lengthy and comprehensIve documents that provIde for the IdentIficatIOn of vacanCIes and posItIOns and the procedure for filhng those posItIOns as they become aVailable throughout varIOUS phases of the restructunng GIven the complexIty and SIze of the task of restnlctunng and decommISSIOnIng of mstItutIOns, It IS not surpnsmg that a number of gnevances and dIsputes arose ThIS IS another of the dIsputes that have ansen under the MERC Memorandum of Settlement When I was mItIally mVIted to hear theses transItIOn dIsputes, the partIes agreed that process to be followed for the determmatIOn of these matters would be vIrtually IdentIcal to that found m ArtIcle 22 16.2 whIch states The mediator/arbItrator shall endeavour to assIst the partIes to settle the gnevance by mediatIOn If the partIes are unable to settle the gnevance by medIatIOn, the mediator / arb 1 trator shall determme the gnevance by arbItratIOn When detennmmg the gnevance by arbItratIOn, the medIator/arbItrator may hmIt the nature and extent of the eVIdence and may Impose such condItIons as he or she consIders appropnate The medIator/arbItrator shall gIve a succmct decIsIOn wItllln five (5) days after completmg proceedmgs, unless the partIes agree otherwIse 4 The transItIOn commIttee has dealt wIth dozens of gnevances and complamts pnor to the mediatIOn/arbItratIOn process There have been many other gnevances and Issues raised before me that I have eIther assIsted the partIes to resolve or arbItrated. However, there are stIll a large number that have yet to be dealt wIth It IS because of the vast numbers of gnevances that I have decIded, m accordance wIth my JunsdIctIOn to so detennme, that gnevances are to be presented by way of each party presentmg a statement of the facts wIth accompanymg submIssIOns NotwIthstandmg that some gnevors mIght wIsh to attend and provIde oral eVIdence, to date, tlllS process has been efficIent and has allowed the partIes to rem am relatIvely current wIth dIsputes that anse from the contmumg transItIOn process Not surpnsmgly, m a few mstances there has been some confusIOn about the certam facts or sImply msufficIent detail has been provIded. On those occaSIOns I have dIrected the partIes to speak agam wIth theIr prmcIples to ascertam the facts or the ratIOnale belllnd the partIcular outstandmg matter In each case tlllS has been done to my satIsfactIOn It IS essentIal m tlllS process to aVOId accumulatmg a backlog of dIsputes The task of resolvmg these Issues m a tImely fashIOn was, from the outset, a formIdable one WIth ongomg changes m MmIstenal boundanes and other orgamzatIonal alteratIOns, the task has lately become larger, not smaller It IS for these reasons that the process I have outlmed IS appropnate m these CIrcumstances On September 12, 2003, the partIes entered mto a Memorandum of Settlement resolvmg a number of gnevances filed by Dale Moore, a CorrectIOnal Officer who worked at the Ottawa Carleton DetentIOn Centre In that Memorandum the partIes agreed that VIce Chair L Mikus would rem am seIzed wIth respect to the 5 mterpretatIOn of the settlement NotwIthstandmg that agreement, the partIes have agreed to put tlllS matter before me because the Issue m dIspute IS a dIrect result of tranSI tIOn It was agreed m the Memorandum that the gnevor would be gIven a "fresh start" as a CorrectIOnal Officer at the BrockvIlle JaIl commencmg September 29, 2003 At paragraph 2 of the Memorandum the partIes agreed. (a) EffectIve September 29, 2003, the Gnevor's home posItIOn wIll be at the RIdeau CorrectIOnal and Treatment Centre (b) On September 29, 2003, the Gnevor wIll not report to work at RIdeau CorrectIOnal and Treatment Centre rather, the Gnevor wIll be temporanly assIgned to the BrockvIlle JaIl effectIve September 29,2003 (c) ThIS temporary assIgnment wIll contmue untIl the St Lawrence Valley CorrectIOnal and Treatment Centre - Phase 2, commences operatIOn at whIch the Gnevor wIll commence workmg SL VCTC Moreover It IS understood that the Gnevor IS not entItled to any temporary or pennanent relocatIOn expenses of travel reImbursement etc as a result of thIS memorandum of settlement other than that IdentIfied m Item 9(b) (d) It IS expressly understood that the Gnevor's terms of employment are not affected by these changes 1 e wages, semonty, etc The terms and condItIons of the Memorandum were, m total, comphed wIth by all accounts On January 28, 2005, It was announced that Phase 2 at St Lawrence Valley would not be Implemented. Subsequently the gnevor alleged that the terms of the Memorandum of Settlement have been vIOlated because he has an entItlement to a posItIOn at SL VCTC When employees were notIfied of the cancellatIOn of Phase 2 they were asked to mdIcate theIr preferred optIOns wIth respect to workplace locatIOn It IS mterestmg to note that the gnevor's first chOIce was Ottawa Carleton DetentIOn Centre wIllIe 6 SL VCTC was hIS second chOIce The gnevor's first chOIce was allowed and he presently works at OCDC I dIsagree wIth the gnevor's assertIOn AccordIng to the Memorandum of Settlement the gnevor was temporanly assIgned to the BrockvIlle JaIl wIllIe IllS home posItIOn contInued to be at RIdeau CorrectIOnal and Treatment Centre That temporary assIgnment was to change once Phase 2 of SL VCTC took effect Unfortunately for the gnevor and a number of others, Phase 2 was cancelled. The gnevor asserted that thIS memorandum protects hIm from the ramIficatIOns of the Phase 2 cancellatIOn I thInk not The gnevor IS to be treated hke other employees as set out In two prevIOusly Issued Board decIsIOns In tlllS regard dated January 27, 2005 and Apnl 6, 2005 He IS not entItled to maIntaIn an entItlement to a posItIOn at SL VCTC If the Employer's busIness plan was altered and those changes were not known at the tune the partIes negotIated the Memorandum of Settlement Dated In Toronto tlllS 15th day of December, 2005